James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If we are going to be doing this in universities, surely we could be doing this sooner in settings such as matches and music festivals. Our response in our testing capabilities around antigen testing is not up to scratch in terms of large-scale events. We should be increasing capacity at events, using the antigen testing systems that are available.

I want to make an important point. There is a three to four-day window in early infection where both antigen and PCR tests can display a false negative. We are trying to compare like with like in the different systems that are in place for testing Covid-19. Is that enough of a reason to look at antigen testing in the area of aviation? We are already using PCR testing because the likelihood is that in the three to four-day incubation or early period where somebody could have contracted Covid-19, there is already a strong likelihood we will miss that.

My position is that antigen tests should be implemented by the State in every possible location, because if it was taking place in a fuel garage, I would use it. If it was in an airport, we would all use it if it was mandatory. It is ludicrous for the 140,000 people whose livelihoods depend on aviation in this country that we are not looking at this particular mechanism for the area of Covid-19 testing. The Ferguson report set it out clearly. Professor Mina of Harvard University, an assistant professor of epidemiology, says it is a powerful tool in tackling Covid-19.

We should be doing more with this. Does Dr. Holohan think there is the capacity for this State to up its level of testing events to see how we can implement antigen testing, looking at events like Electric Picnic and the aviation sector? Do we have the capacity to do that in the next six months?